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Monday, August 13, 2012

The
Write Music

I am not a person
who does silence very well. I can, when the moment and mood calls for it, but
in general I need to have some kind of noise. Sometimes I’ll put on a movie,
with or without the director’s commentary, and sort of tune it out. It may
sound strange, but it keeps my mind from wandering off to strange places. Most
of the time, though, I write to music.

My playlist tends
to grow rather than shrink. It’s rare that I’ll take something off the list,
even if I haven’t listened to it in ages. It’s kind of a nice little surprise
when it pops up in the rotation. One example of this is Legs by Jer Coons. It was one of those songs that I happened to
hear on some Musik station and I fell in love with it for a while. I still have
it on my iPod but I don’t really listen to it. But any time it comes up in the
writing playlist, I automatically start humming and bopping my head.

Then there are
certain artists who are an automatic add to the list. I have more Kelly
Clarkson songs on the list than any other artist. They ran the gamut from slow,
mournful ballads to fist-pumping rock anthems. I know the words to all of them,
something my neighbors probably hate. As far as the list is concerned, it’s not
if a Clarkson song will make it on there, but when will it make it on there.
What can I say? We’re musical soul mates.

I also have some
classics, both new and old. Hotel
California, Dream On, and Folsom
Prison Blues are just as likely to come up in the rotation as I’m the Only One, Criminal and Lose Yourself. For pure laughs and
chuckles, I also have selections from musicals like Anything Goes, Phantom of the Opera, and Moulin Rouge. I can’t quite hit the high note during Think of Me like Emmy Rossum can, but I
get pretty close.

To sum it up, my
playlist is definitely eclectic. Country shares space with rock and pop,
musicals go toe to toe with rap and what might be folk (honestly, there are
some songs that I can’t even name a genre for). The only things they have in
common are that I like them and they help keep the creative juices flowing. But
really, what more can you ask of a playlist?

Thanks to the
folks at Urban Investigations for having me back—and happy reading!

__________________________________

L.M. Pruitt has been
reading and writing for as long as she can remember. A native of Florida
with a love of New Orleans, she has the uncanny ability to find humor
in most things and would probably kill a plastic plant. She is the
author of the best-selling Jude Magdalyn series, the Moon Rising series,
and the Frankie Post series. She is currently at work on the next Jude
Magdalyn book, Shades of Blood. She makes her home in Florida with one
two cats—one smart, the other an idiot.

Jude Magdalyn Henries lives what many would call an unconventional life.

Orphaned
at birth, raised by nuns, a teenage runaway living on the streets… she
now earns a living at odd jobs, including one as a fake tarot card
reader. Very little about Jude’s life appears normal, by any scale. When
she accepts a gig to do a private reading, unconventional takes on an
entirely new meaning.

Life as she knows it ends when she’s thrust
into a world she never knew existed—one filled with magic, vampires,
and her beloved New Orleans on the verge of an underground war. To make
matters worse, she's got two men in her life vying for attention,
Williams and Theo. Both call to a different part of her, but one scares
her just a little bit. Can she step up to the challenges set before her
and make the right choices for the greater, which may or not be the
greater good?

Book Two: Shades of Desire

ll I wanted was a little peace and quiet.

Instead,
I've got dead Covenant members and a steady stream of letters from the
new guy in town. His beverage of choice? A 2002 Merlot, with a shot or
two of powerful virgin blood.

On top of that, I'm breaking in a
new police liaison, failing at playing matchmaker, and fighting nausea
like it's a full time job.

Did I forget to mention that I've also got enough girls living at the Crossroads to start my own boarding school?

Peace and quiet? Out the window.

--Jude Magdalyn Henries

Book Three: Shades of Blood

If it's not one thing, it's another.

Felipe, one of New Orleans's most infamous--and crazy--vampires is back in town. And to say he's unhappy is an understatement.

Duprees
and Williams have to track down Felipe, fast, before he claims any more
victims. If that means making a deal with the Devil--otherwise known as
St. Germaine--and using an untrained dhampir, so be it.

If that wasn't enough, I've also got rebellious teenagers, feuding couples, and a suddenly full social calendar.

The more things change...

Frankie Post Series

Book 0.5: Irish Rover

Cheating husband?

Call Frances "Frankie" Post, a private investigator with a trick or two up her sleeve.

In
this flash fiction piece (approx. 1500 words) join Frankie as she
spends the afternoon in Queens masquerading as a member of the "personal
entertainment" business community. A note to cheating husbands - never
use the joint checking account.

Book One: Taken

Cheating spouse? Stolen jewelry? Missing person?

Call Frances--Frankie--Post. A private detective with a trick of two up her sleeve and a few skeletons of her own.

What
starts out as a simple missing person's case dumps Frankie and her
lover Jack right in the crosshairs of a dangerous human trafficking
organization. With lives on the line, bad blood and old wounds finally
see the light of day. And Frankie and Jack are forced to realize: The
past always catches up with you.

Always

Moon Rising Series

Book One: New Moon RisingNothing ever happens in
Selene, Georgia. The biggest events in the past ten years have been a
wedding, a funeral and a bar fight. It's slow, sleepy, a little
narrow-minded--but for Cari Gravier, it's home.

Now things are
starting to happen that nobody's seen before. Strange things in the
woods, dead animals--and dead people. Cari's about to discover a whole
new side to Selene. And a past that may come back to bite her....

Book Two: Harvest Moon RisingCari Gravier might have
learned Selene's big secret, but some things remain constant: the Old
Town Cafe, blackberry harvesting, and the shaky relationship with her
ex-husband, Mike Sullivan.

But there's more change in the wind,
the kind even half blind Old Willis can see. The seeds of the
past--betrayal, violence, and heartbreak--are ready for harvest.